Saturday, October 25, 2008

The world’s first supercharged KTM RC8: Part II

Earlier this month, we did this post on the world’s first supercharged KTM RC8, though we then did not have any details or tech specs. Well, now we do have more details and more pics, so here we go again…

Built by the Finland-based Lantto Racing, the supercharged RC8 drag-racer has been prepared in accordance with the FHRA’s Pro Street Bike class rules. The swingarm has been lengthened, the suspension has been lowered and a Rotrex C30-94 supercharger has been bolted on.

The engine’s compression ratio has been lowered to allow running more boost, and the engine management system has been custom-built by TaTech. Fully loaded, the bike weighs 188 kilos.

With around 250bhp, the bike does the quarter-mile in 9.815 seconds...

According to Aku Lantto, of Lantto Racing, the stock RC8 made 141.5bhp and 121Nm of torque, and did the quarter-mile (400m) in 10.17 seconds, hitting 219km/h. With the mods, the supercharged RC8 makes about 250 horsepower and 220Nm of torque, (running only 0.5 bar boost), and does the quarter-mile in 9.815 seconds, at 230km/h.

Aku says that with so much power, setting up the suspension is getting tougher and the clutch also takes a beating every time the bike is launched. Still, Lantto Racing plan to increase the boost to 1.5-2 bar, at which point the RC8’s engine should be pumping out more than 300bhp…

This supercharged KTM RC8 sure looks like one hell of an interesting project. Wish you all the best, Lantto. Gofor it!